Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Poland and Estonia on Tuesday (March 1) for meetings with fellow leaders and Nato, Downing Street has confirmed.
Mr Johnson is expected to meet Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg as the international community looks to pile more pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin following his bloody invasion of Ukraine which began last week.
The confirmation of the PM's trip to Eastern Europe and the Baltics follows a Cabinet meeting held this morning. Boris Johnson opened Cabinet by saying Vladimir Putin had made a “colossal mistake” believing his troops would be “garlanded with roses” by Ukrainians.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister said it is becoming clearer with each day that Putin had made a colossal mistake believing that the guns of his tanks would be garlanded with roses when instead the Ukrainian people had put up a fierce resistance in defence of their homeland.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister said it is becoming clearer with each day that Putin had made a colossal mistake believing that the guns of his tanks would be garlanded with roses when instead the Ukrainian people had put up a fierce resistance in defence of their homeland.
“He said latest intelligence suggested Putin’s advances had been hampered by logistical problems and the heroic efforts of the Ukrainian military who are inflicting significant casualties on Russian troops.”
Adding to the account of the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said of Mr Johnson: “He said Putin had also underestimated Western unity and the strength of the sanctions his action could lead to. The Prime Minister said Putin must fail in his attempts to subjugate Ukraine and the UK would continue its efforts in three main areas to achieve this: economically, diplomatically and militarily.”
Mr Johnson will press for Russia to be cut out of the Swift international payment system “completely”. The spokesman added: “Further sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals will be introduced shortly.”
Cabinet was updated by the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Chief of the Defence staff who “pointed to the discontent among many of the Russian people including an anti-war petition that has attracted around a million signatures”, the PM's spokesman said.
It has also been announced that Home Secretary Priti Patel will say more on further actions to help Ukrainian refugees flee Ukraine. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’ve set out further measures last night but we will be doing even more, with the Home Secretary expected to say a little more in the House later today.
“As the Prime Minister has said, we will go further than even what was announced yesterday, there will be further support as you would expect for those who are fleeing the violence.”
